Wenn ich gelb ziehe, musst du Liegestütze machen

What does “ach du Kacke” mean in German?

In this clip’s couples' game — draw a color, do whatever challenge it’s assigned, from bleaching each other’s hair to push-ups — one partner reacts to the stakes with Ach du Kacke!, literally “oh, you poop,” used the way English speakers say “oh crap!” Kacke is the everyday, slightly childish word for poop, sitting a notch below Scheiße (shit) — blunt and a bit vulgar, but fairly mild as far as German exclamations go, not polite but not shocking either.

Ach du Kacke follows the same pattern as its edgier cousin ach du Scheiße (“oh shit”) — both are fixed exclamations of surprise or dismay, not literal statements. Kacke also shows up on its own as an adjective for “bad” or “lousy” (das ist doch Kacke, “that sucks”), making it one of German’s most flexible mild expletives.